80 FOREIGN FINCHES IN CAPTIVITY. 



are entirely lost in summer, when the feathers become abraded, and 

 it is then that an exact comparison of the males should be made. There 

 can be no question, however, about the difference of the females." Dr. 

 Sharpe thus distinguishes the hens : C. coccineus, with the facial mask 

 entirely black ; from Eastern Mexico, Mirador to Yucatan and British 

 Honduras. C. ioneus, with no black mark on the face ; lores and chin 

 ashy whitish ; from Lower California, probably throughout Western 

 Mexico north of the Rio Grande to Santiago, and Tres Marias Islands. 



Of C. carneus, the habitat of which is Western Mexico, from 

 Acapulco to the Colima district, the female is unknown ; but the male 

 is of a rosier tint, without ashy margins to the feathers of the back, 

 and with the feathers of the crest elongated and stiffened. 



It seems necessary to me to give these characters, by which the 

 different races of the Cardinal Grosbeak may be distinguished ; because 

 it is quite possible that they may at any time be imported, and come 

 into the possession of amateur Ornithologists. The nearly allied 

 Venezuelan Cardinal is less likely to be obtained, but may easily be 

 recognized by its longer crest and the almost entire absence of the black 

 facial mask, excepting on the chin. 



The Virginian Cardinal was one of the first cage-birds ever imported 

 from North America. The early settlers, who doubtless looked back 

 with a longing eye to the country which they had left, tried to imagine 

 a resemblance, in some respect, between the songs of the birds in this, 

 the land of their exile, and those of their old home: they consequently 

 gave to the Virginian Cardinal the very eulogistic title of " Virginian 

 Nightingale." 



Latham speaking of the song of this bird, says that its notes " are 

 almost equal to those of the Nightingale"; but judging from the 

 performance of the three cock birds which I have kept, I should say that 

 no comparison could be made between the two, without offering an 

 unpardonable insult to our little russet- coloured summer visitor. The 

 song of this Cardinal, as a matter of fact, consists chiefly of a repetition 

 of the Chinese word " Chow," whistled indeed, and therefore more 

 musical than if spoken. It may thus be rendered, as I have heard it 

 many times uttered: " Choiv, chow, chow, chow, chmv ; chee-ow ; chow-chow- 

 chow-choiv-chow-cliow-chow" then follows a pause and the same thing over 

 again : the first part of the song is deliberate and loud, but after the 

 " chee-ow " it is lower, more liquid in tone, and much more rapid.* My 

 third example of this species, purchased on May ayth, 1897, and turned 



* Of course, it is possible that, when wild, this bird may sing better than when caged ; but, if 

 so, its case is exceptional. A.G.B. 



